ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Estrogens has traditionally been known as the female hormone, but this idea has been challenged in early 1990’s and an essential physiological role for estrogen in male fertility was identified. Phytoestrogens are naturally occurring non-steroidal plant chemicals that can act like the female hormone estrogen. The herbs ( anise alfalfa and vervain ) chosen in this study contain phytoestrogens. OBJECTIVE: Previous studies demonstrated controversy of the effects of phytoestrogens on the rat testes .Hence, the present investigation was undertaken to investigate the influence of typical dose of herbs containing phytoestrogen on the rat testis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four apparently normal mature male rats were divided into four groups of 6 animals each. The first "control" group received only 4ml of distilled water as a placebo. The second group received 40mg/kg of anise seed; the third group received 53.3 mg/kg of dried herb of vervain and the fourth group received 400 mg /kg of alfalfa seeds. All experimental groups received the doses through orogastric tube daily for fourteen days. Testicular histology was evaluated by light and enzyme histochemistry. Plasma FSH and testosterone concentrations were taken to support our results. RESULTS: Histological examination of anise, alfalfa and vervain – treated groups showed an increase in the height of germinal epithelia. There was marked lipoprotein lipase activity in the whole of the interstitial tissue which is more in amount in experimental groups than that in control group. Acid phosphatase granules were infiltered the seminiferous epithelia mildly in control group , moderately in anise and vervain groups and markedly in alfalfa group. The number of interstitial cells showing marked acid phosphatase activity was higher in all experimental groups than that in control group. Alkaline phosphatase exhibited intense activity in the boundary tissue of the seminiferous tubules in testes of control and experimental groups but it appeared thicker in the latter. CONCLUSION: The low dose and short duration of treatment used in our study made these phytoestrogen – containing herbs to have a stimulatory effect on leydig cell steroidogenesis. This study also demonstrated that aniseed being the most potent of the three herbs followed by alfalfa in stimulating testosterone synthesis. This is possibly attributed to the coumarin constituent of aniseed and alfalfa. KEY WORDS: phytoestrogen-containing herbs, testis, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, lipoprotein lipase
Study was made on the optical properties of Ge2oSe8othinfilms prepared by vac-uum evaporation as radiated by (0,34,69) Gy of 13 ray.The optical band gab Eg and tailing band A.Et were studied in the photon energy range ( 1 to 3)eV. The a-Ge20Se8o film was found to be indirect gap with energy gap of (1.965,1.9 , 1.82) eV at radiated by B ray with absorption doses of (0,34,69)Gy respectively.The Ea and AEt of Ge20Se80 films showed adecrease in E8 and an increase in AEt with radiation. This be-havior may be related to structural defects and dangling bonds.
Conventional flexible pavements are released to different types of failure in the initial phases of their service life due to high traffic density, high speeds, heavy loads, and harsh climates. To eliminate pavement damage and failure early, the present search investigates the impact of adding glass, steel, and basalt fibers in the asphalt mixtures. Also, the study evaluates these materials characteristics compared to the mixtures without fibers. The Marshall test and tensile strength ratio test (TSR) were utilized to evaluate the asphalt mixture's performance. A set of specimens were produced by incorporating glass fiber (GF), steel fiber (SF), and basalt fiber (BF) at (0.10%, 0.15%, 0.20%), (0.25%, 0.35%, 0.45%), and (0.15%, 0.35%
... Show MoreGas hydrate formation is considered one of the major problems facing the oil and gas industry as it poses a significant threat to the production, transportation and processing of natural gas. These solid structures can nucleate and agglomerate gradually so that a large cluster of hydrate is formed, which can clog flow lines, chokes, valves, and other production facilities. Thus, an accurate predictive model is necessary for designing natural gas production systems at safe operating conditions and mitigating the issues induced by the formation of hydrates. In this context, a thermodynamic model for gas hydrate equilibrium conditions and cage occupancies of N2 + CH4 and N2 + CO4 gas mix
In the last decades, using mineral admixture in concrete became very necessary to improve concrete properties and reduce CO2 emissions associated with the cement production process. Subsequently, more sustainable concrete can be obtained. Ternary blended cement containing two different types of mineral admixture can achieve ambitious steps in this trend. In this research, the synergic effects of mineral admixtures in ternary blended cement and its effects on concrete fresh properties, strength, durability, and efficiency factors of mineral admixture in ternary blended cement, were reviewed. The main conclusion reached after reviewing many literature pieces is that the concrete with ternary blended cement
... Show MoreBackground: Wound healing, as a normal biological process in the human body, is achieved through four precisely and highly programmed phases: hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling. Growth factors released in the traumatized area promote cell migration into the wound area (chemotaxis), stimulate the growth of epithelial cells and fibroblasts (mitogenesis), initiate the formulation of new blood vessels (angiogenesis), and stimulate matrix formation and remodeling of the affected region. One of factors that effects on wound healing is a sex hormones and one of these hormones is an estrogen hormone. A wide range of cutaneous cell types (eg, fibroblast, endothelial, epithelial, and inflammatory) expressed estrogen receptors, in
... Show MoreThe determiner phrase is a syntactic category that appears inside the noun phrase and makes it definite or indefinite or quantifies it. The present study has found wide parametric differences between the English and Arabic determiner phrases in terms of the inflectional features, the syntactic distribution of determiners and the word order of the determiner phrase itself. In English, the determiner phrase generally precedes the head noun or its premodifying adjectival phrase, with very few exceptions where some determiners may appear after the head noun. In Arabic, parts of the determiner phrase precede the head noun and parts of it must appear after the head noun or after its postmodifying adjectival phrase creating a discontinu
... Show MoreIntroduction: Diabetic foot infections are one of the most severe complications of diabetes. This study was aimed to determine the common bacterial isolates of diabetic foot infections and the in vitro antibiotic susceptibility then treatment.
Methods: A swab was taken from the foot ulcer, and the aerobic bacteria were isolated and identified by cultural, microscopic and biochemical test, then by api-20E system. After that their antibiotic susceptibility pattern was determined. Then local and systemic treatment was used to treat the diabetic foot patients.
Results: Bacterial isolates belonging to twelve species were obtained from diabetic foot patients. Gram (-) bacteria were the predominant pathogens in the diabetic foot infection
Sustainable vegetative management plays a significant role in improving soil quality in degraded agricultural landscapes by enhancing soil microbial biomass. This study investigated the effects of grass buffers (GBs), biomass crops (BCs), grass waterways (GWWs), and agroforestry buffers (ABs) on soil microbial biomass and soil organic C (SOC) compared with continuous corn (